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Hello all my lovely readers! I’m back again with another nail art post. I hope that you all are enjoying these as much as I am!

I’ve been getting a lot of comments and compliments on this one and it’s really very easy to do, I’m sure that anyone can do this too! Let’s start off with the polishes used: Bohemian Polish – Here I Go, Alchemy Lacquers – Sea of Snapdragons, Digital Nails – Double Helix, and Pretty & Polished – Thyme and Time Again.

To start I had to get my base on. I used Bohemian Polish – Here I go as my base. It’s a perfect sky blue crelly polish. I did three coats plus topcoat here:

Bohemian Polish – Here I Go

Bohemian Polish – Here I Go

To do the finished look the next thing I did was stamp on some white dots. I absolutely could have used a tiny dotting tool or a toothpick to make the white dots. But, I was feeling a little lazy so I did the stamping. My stamping actually didn’t come out perfect because some of my dots had no middle but I didn’t dislike the effect so I left it. Just keeping it real folks, from a distance you really can’t tell it’s just in these up close pictures that it’s super apparent.

Everything is Coming Up Roses – Glossy

The next step was the roses! Using a large dotting tool I made big dots using Alchemy Lacquers – Sea of Snapdragons. I didn’t worry about them being perfectly round because I knew it wasn’t going to be just dots. You don’t have to be too precise with this nail art which is great for newbie nail artists!

Everything is Coming Up Roses – Glossy

Everything is Coming Up Roses – Glossy

After I made the big dots and before it dried I used a toothpick to swirl/smoosh Digital Nails – Double Helix on top of the dots. Then with the toothpick I went back and added a little more Sea of Snapdragons to finish the effect. Last but not least using a little brush I brushed on some leaves around my finished roses with Pretty & Polished – Thyme and Time Again.

Clearly I did start with a nice glossy topcoat. But, then I got to thinking to myself, “how would this look matte?!” I asked a couple of my buddies and everyone seemed interested to see what it would look like so I snagged my matte topcoat.

Everything is Coming Up Roses – Matte

I personally much preferred the matte version! I feel like it allowed the design to be the star and it didn’t compete with the high gloss! Both ways were pretty but man oh man that matte version is just one of my favorite things ever!

Everything is Coming Up Roses – Matte

Everything is Coming Up Roses – Matte

There you have it! Everything is coming up roses here. I was super pleased with the result. I really have been enjoying doing a lot of nail art lately. Even with my little stamping mishap resulting in tiny rings instead of dots I did not get discouraged. Nail art should be fun and you should be happy with both the process and end result so I try not to let myself sweat the small stuff!

As always, dear reader, you can find me on social media using the big buttons to the right of my page. Until next time may your days be filled with glitter and flakies!

Hello all my gorgeous readers! I did some nail art over the weekend and I have been just so mesmerized by the result that I haven’t even been able to bring myself to write it up for you. That’s because I kept stopping to stare at my nails. This mani probably ranks up there in one of my favorite that I’ve -ever- done. I hope that you will enjoy it! To be fair, while it’s not an impossible bit of nail art people who are new to nail art may find it a bit more challenging because today (or this past weekend, whatever…) we water marble! In true Relly fashion though, at every step I thought, “oh I love this…but what if I added this?!” Then, I did it. The result was much better than I anticipated.

Let’s start off with what you need for water marbling. You’ll need 2 or more polishes (creme polishes work best, but, some jellies and holographic polishes will also work well but you’ll want to avoid polishes with glitter or flakies), white nail polish, a small cup with filtered room-temperature water, an orange stick or water marbling tool, q-tips, cuticle barrier of your choice (tape, liquid latex, vinyl cuticle shields, etc.), and base and topcoats.

I started with five polishes from the Bohemian Polish Washed Out 2.0 collection. When I want something Springy, bright, cheerful, and great for nail art I usually reach for these:

Bohemian Polish – Washed out 2.0

First you will prep your nails. Apply basecoat and then a layer of white polish. I only did one coat and I didn’t worry about it being a perfect finish, it’s going to be covered up after all:

Step 1

Next, apply your cuticle barrier. I used Digital Nails – Questionable Browser History which is a liquid latex product, but you can easily use tape or those handy vinyl cuticle barriers (that are latex-free!) that I’ve seen around. If you’re using liquid latex you’ll definitely want to go a ways up your finger, you’ll see later I didn’t go quite high enough!

Step 2

Then, you’re going to create a bullseye in your cup of water by dripping one drop of nail polish color into the water alternating with each color until it forms a bullseye. It should look something like this:

Step 3

Using an orange stick, tooth pick, water marble tool, or other pointy thin tool carefully drag it through the colors until you create a pattern that pleases you. I kept this one pretty simple:

Step 4

Next aim your fingernail at a slight angle toward the part of the pattern you would like to be on your nail then dunk your nail gently into the nail polish pattern. Using a cotton swab gently collect the excess polish from around your finger so that it doesn’t get transferred to your nail. Gently remove your finger from the water. Take care not to move too quickly and work at a bit of an angle to avoid bubbles as much as possible.

Step 5

Now, you can totally see why you need that cuticle barrier! Cleaning that up would be a right mess! Gently remove your cuticle barrier and clean up any stray areas with acetone and a clean up brush that you couldn’t protect with the barrier and apply topcoat. Floating the topcoat will help avoid smears.

Step 6

Now…this is where most people would be like, “YAY, a successful water marble! Let’s stop here.” I am clearly not most people because what I said is, “Oh, let’s add flakies!” So I did. I added a generous layer of Digital Nails – Hyperbole which gave the whole look a shifty iridescent quality. It’s subtle but when it catches the light it’s lovely!

Water Marble Design topped with Digital Nails – Hyperbole

Again, I said to myself, “what else can I do?!” so I stamped butterfly wings using Vivid Lacquer – VL002 over top:

Final Look

Final Look

Final Look

Ahhh, and then I was finally satisfied. This turned out so cheerful, happy, and pretty that I could have been more pleased. This is probably the most successful water marble I’ve done. They take practice and patience but the result is so great that it’s worth it!

You can find Bohemian Polish, Vivid Lacquer, and Digital Nails at the stalker links below. As usual, I’d love to hear from you! This is definitely a win in my book. I hope you really like it as well! Don’t forget you can find me on social media by using the big pink buttons to the right! Until next time I hope your days are filled with glitter and flakies!

Hello again, Readers! I promised two posts this week and I like to live up to my promises!

Today I’m going to show you something that combines two of my favorite things, stamping and Digital Nails nail polish. I don’t think it’s any secret whatsoever about my love and devotion to all things Digital Nails!

Digital Nails – Lying (transition)

Let’s talk about Lying and shadow stamping for a minute. As you can see, Lying is a thermal polish and what that means, in case you were unaware or are new to indie polish, is that it changes color with the temperature. Shadow stamping is a technique that involves stamping over a thermal polish in a color that is as close to the darker of the two colors as possible so that it “disappears” when it is in that color state and “appears” when the lighter color is present.

Digital Nails – Lying (transition)

Digital Nails – Lying (transition)

On Lying the darker color is the “cold” color and is a greyish-purple. I love this color on me. In order to achieve my shadow stamping I had to franken a polish to be as close as I could to the “cold” color of Lying. I used polishes that I knew stamped well alone to mix up a new color that I used to stamp for this mani.

Digital Nails – Lying (cold)

As you can see, I got -pretty- close. It’s not perfect but when you’re not looking at it close up you can’t see the stamping when it is in the cold state!

Digital Nails – Lying (cold)

Digital Nails – Lying (cold)

Lying is a beautiful turquoise color when it is in the warm state:

Digital Nails – Lying (warm)

In both states there is a lovely blue iridescent microglitter that is in the creamy base that just adds depth and interest. It was pretty shy for these pics but it is a lovely addition to the thermal polish! Lying is available in the Digital Nails shop and I will add links below. I used Vivid Lacquer – VL041 for the image that I stamped onto my nails.

Digital Nails – Lying (warm)

Digital Nails – Lying (warm)

I’m beyond in love with this polish and this whole mani. I need more thermals in my life! Sound off in the comments and tell me some of your favorite thermals I would love to know!

Hello my dearest readers! I hope that today finds you moving closer and closer to Spring. Are you waiting with bated breath for the cold to end like I am? I feel more certain than ever that it’s just around the corner. Already temps are rising here in the South. There are some interesting things a-brewing here at Boom Shaka Lacquer, including a unique blog collaboration with some of the other amazing bloggers out there. I can’t wait to share!

Today I’m bringing you a gorgeous polish for our Wednesdays We Wear Pink post. You ready for pretty polish? Ok great, this should definitely fit the bill!

I’m telling you right now this is a must have polish! This is Double Helix:

Digital Nails – Double Helix

Isn’t it gorgeous? I’m in love with this one. I’ll be honest I’ve had this one awhile, but, the holidays and the move got in the way of me posting about it! Double Helix is a deep rose color linear holographic polish with rose microflakies. It’s deep and complex and absolutely beautiful. I don’t often wear “just” a single color, but I wore this one alone for a week and I got so many compliments! This is part of her Scientist Pun collection and is based on Rosalind Franklin whose work was hijacked by other scientists who are credited with discovering the double helix shape of DNA. Definitely not cool! But this polish recognizes her accomplishments and honors her for her instrumental discoveries!

Digital Nails – Double Helix

The formula for this polish was absolutely fantastic. It went on like butter as they say. Streaks, drags, balding? Not here I say! I did use two coats, but honestly I probably could have gotten away with one. The only thing I will caution against is that as with ALL highly-pigmented polishes (particularly deep pinks, reds, and blues) careful application paired with well-moisturized cuticles will help you with clean up. These kinds of polishes do like to glom onto cuticles and can be a little trying to clean up if you have any dryness at all. Pictures show two coats plus my tried and true Digital Nails – Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That quick drying topcoat (I love this stuff!).

This polish is not only gorgeous but it’s available in the Digital Nails shop right now! If you don’t have this one yet, you definitely need it! Pertinent links below! So did ya miss me, wonderful readers? Because I have missed you. Stay tuned for more Boom Shaka Lacquer and that blogger collaboration series that I teased about earlier!